Wednesday, September 28, 2005

NO. 6 TUSCULUM AND MARS HILL BATTLE TO 1-1 TIE

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- In a South Atlantic Conference showdown that spanned two overtime periods and produced 56 combined shots, the No. 6 Tusculum College men’s soccer team battled Mars Hill to a 1-1 deadlock on Wednesday at Pioneer Field. With the tie, Tusculum moves to 6-1-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the SAC, while Mars Hill is 5-5-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the league. (Box Score)

Coming into Wednesday’s match, both teams had participated in four overtime matches, with all four of MHC’s matches being double overtime affairs and one of TC’s extended matches spilling into a second overtime.

Forty-two of the 56 shots fired in the match were recorded by Tusculum, which gunned seven shots in each overtime period, compared to no overtime shots for the Lions.

Neither squad could find the back of the net in the first half, and the teams headed into the locker room with the scoreboard showing zeroes.

Tusculum finally coaxed a shot into the goal in the 57^th minute when Benyam Kefleyessus (Minneapolis, Minn.) zipped a pass to an attacking Dave Bailey (Bristol, England), who fired a shot that slipped in just below the cross bar.

The Pioneers’ one-goal advantage held for most of the rest of regulation, then with 35.9 seconds showing on the clock, Mars Hill was awarded a penalty kick due to contact in the box. Sophomore Daniel Waymont (Weaverville, N.C.) made the most of the opportunity, driving a shot past TC goalkeeper J.P. Swaminathan (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) to tie the match at 1-1 and send the contest into overtime.

TC kept the Lions on the defensive for much of both overtime periods, but despite 14 shots, the Pioneers could not convert the golden goal.

Josiah Larson (Falls Church, Va.) recorded nine saves for MHC, while Swaminathan finished the match with seven saves for TC.

The next match for Tusculum will be on Saturday, Oct. 1, at Wingate. The SAC showdown is scheduled to kick off at 3:00 p.m. Mars Hill will also be on the road for a league contest on Saturday, as it travels to Presbyterian to face the Blue Hose at 7:00 p.m.

-TC-